Customer activated point of sale (POS) systems have been developed for use in service stations. In one such system, a customer uses a keypad located at a credit authorization terminal (CAT) unit, to input the customers personal identification number (PIN). If the PIN is validated, a display on the system prompts the customer to key in a particular gasoline pump number, and optionally an amount to be dispensed. The CAT island card reader is programmed to authorize an in-station pump controller to activate the selected pump, for permitting the customer to complete the requested transaction. Upon completion, the system provides for the customer to return to the CAT or island card reader, to operate the same for obtaining a receipt for the completed transaction.
Recently, gasoline dispensing systems are being developed to incorporate prior stand alone island card reader peripherals into the heads of multi-product gasoline dispensers. For example, Gilbarco, Inc. is in the process of developing a CRIND (Card Reader In A Dispenser) for including in the head of a Gilbarco multi-product dispenser, a customer display, keypad, card reader, receipt printer, and the required logic boards for permitting a customer to initiate a transaction at a pump in a manner similar to that required at an island card reader or individual CAT. The CRIND device or system is being developed to eliminate customer confusion caused by requiring customers to enter a pump number, and to reduce transaction time. In the CRIND system, the pump being activated is assumed to be the one associated with the particular CRIND device. Also, another advantage of the CRIND device or system being developed is that a customer is not required to walk across the forecourt in order to initiate a transaction or obtain a receipt. In 1987, another gasoline dispenser manufacturer, namely Dresser-Wayne, Inc., Salisbury, Md., Austin, Tex., began marketing a CRIND-like device on their MGD dispensers. However, no such known systems include or recognize the benefits of integrating a remotely controlled and portable PIN Pad feature into such CRIND-like devices or systems.